Minutemen Host Tygers on Homecoming Weekend

Friday night marks the beginning of the second half of football season around the state of Ohio. Unbelievably, it's week six already and Lexington is gearing up for an important OCC matchup with it's crosstown rival Mansfield Senior. These two teams have been on two different trajectories this season, so far, but all of that goes out the window when the Tygers and Minutemen share the field. It's also Homecoming weekend at Lexington and there is no better way to start the weekend than with a win on Friday night. Oh, and Lexington also has a chance to beat Mansfield Senior twice in a row for the first time since the Minutemen beat the Tygers three straight times from 2007-2009. It's been a long 16 years against Mansfield Senior on the gridiron with just four times in that span.

Lexington will take a 4-1 record into Friday night's matchup with a 1-0 record in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. The Tygers on the other hand are still finding their identity with first year Coach Antonio Fletcher. Mansfield Senior is 0-5 on the season and 0-2 in OCC play. But, they have also played one of the hardest schedules certainly in the area, and maybe in the state to this point. Don't let their record fool you. Mansfield is also coming off of it's best performance of the season offensively but came up short last week at home to New Philadelphia, 45-26. The Tygers led most of the first half but a third quarter lapse resulted in 38 unanswered points by the Quakers who eventually closed the game out. Senior will try to keep the offensive momentum up this week but it could take a lot of points to beat the Minutemen.

There is no hotter team in the area on the scoreboard in the last three weeks than Lexington. Since their only loss to Shelby in week two, the Minutemen have beaten Clear Fork, Akron North, and Wooster by a combined score of 143-42. In fact, the Minutemen have gotten off to a hot start in the last couple of weeks, scoring 71 points in the FIRST QUARTER. What's even more impressive is they have scored on offense and defense, passing and running, seniors and freshmen. Any way you can score, the Minutemen have done it the last three weeks. The confidence this team has is only growing and you can see the pep in their step get a little bit bigger each week.

Quarterback Joey Caudill has an extremely efficient touchdown to interception ratio this season at 12:2. He's thrown for 749 yards which is incredible when you consider that he has only played in three quarters the last two games due to the blowouts on the scoreboard. Seven Allen leads all receivers with 249 yards and three touchdowns. Brayden Fogle is right behind with 245 yards and four touchdowns of his own. To this point, rushing has been by committee this season for Lexington with 14 Minutemen getting carries for 840 yards and 13 touchdowns. However, the bellcow Markale Martin made his season debut last week after being out the first four weeks. His first carry of the season was a 19 yard touchdown. Having him back will change the game for Lexington moving forward. Eleven different Minutemen have found themselves in the endzone at some point this season and that reflects Offensive Coordinator Jacob Owens motto, "Everybody eats".

Defensively, Lexington has been just as good over the last three weeks. The Minutemen pitched a shutout for six straight quarters from the Akron North game through the first half of last weeks win at Wooster. That stretch came after a game sealing interception against Clear Fork in week three. Right now Lexington is on pace to set a few records on defense when it comes to turnovers. The school record for turnovers forced in a season is 33 back in 1983. Right now Lexington is sitting on 19. The school record for interceptions in a season is 22 and the Minutemen have 13, and have had at least one every single week. If you've seen the Minutemen in person this year you know they love to fly around and make plays. If you haven't had the chance to see them yet, you are missing out. Lexington's leading tackler, despite being out the last few weeks with an injury, is Brandon Reaves. He compiled 23.5 tackles in just three games and still has the team lead. Second is Joey Caudill with 22. Three different Minutemen have two interceptions each and Cooper Clark has recovered two fumbles. Jake Barrett and Cole Eichorn share the team lead in sacks with 1.5 each.

Lexington will finish the back half of the regular season with three home games and two road games, all in the OCC. As we sit right now, Lexington is 7th in Division 3, Region 10. If the playoffs started today that would be good for at least one home game. There's still a lot of football to go, but it's moving quickly. Friday night will be a fun one between backyard rivals at Lexington.